by Sophocles
where no one else can hear what I say.
ISMENE
What’s wrong?
It’s plain something you’ve heard makes you livid.
ANTIGONE
It’s Kreon. The way he’s treated our brothers.
Hasn’t he buried one with honor?
But he’s shamed the other. Disgraced him!
Eteokles, they say, was laid to rest 30
according to law and custom.
The dead will respect him in Hades.
But Polyneikes’ sorry body can’t be touched.
The city is forbidden to mourn him or bury him
—no tomb, no tears. Convenient forage
for cruising birds to feast their fill.
That’s the clear order our good general
gives you and me—yes, I said me!
They say he’s coming here to proclaim it
in person to those who haven’t heard it. 40
This is not something he takes lightly.
Violate any provision—the sentence is
you’re stoned to death in your own city.
Now you know.
And soon you’ll prove
how nobly born you really are.
Or did our family breed a coward?
ISMENE
If that’s the bind we’re in, you poor thing,
what good can I do by yanking the knot
tighter—or by trying to pry it loose?
ANTIGONE
Make up your mind. Will you join me? 50
Share the burden?
ISMENE
At what risk? What are you asking?
ANTIGONE
(raising up her hands)
Will you help these hands lift his body?
ISMENE
You want to bury him? Break the law?
ANTIGONE
I’m going to bury my brother—your brother!—
with or without your help. I won’t betray him.
ISMENE
You scare me, Sister. Kreon’s forbidden this.
ANTIGONE
He’s got no right to keep me from what’s mine!
ISMENE
(raising her voice)
He’s mine too!
Just think what our father’s
destruction meant for us both.
Because of those horrible deeds— 60
all self-inflicted, all self-detected—
he died hated and notorious,
his eyes battered into blindness
by his own hands. And then
his wife and mother—two roles
for one woman—disposed
of her life with a noose
of twisted rope. And now
our poor brothers die the same day
in a mutual act of kin murder! 70
Think how much worse
our own deaths will be—abandoned
as we are—if we defy the king’s
proclamation and his power.
Remember, we’re women. How
can we fight men? They’re stronger.
We must accept these things—and worse to come.
I want the Spirits of the Dead
to understand this: I’m not free.
I must obey whoever’s in charge. 80
It’s crazy to attempt the impossible!
ANTIGONE
Then I’ll stop asking you! And if you change
your mind, I won’t accept your help.
Go be the person you’ve chosen to be.
I’ll bury Polyneikes myself. I’ll do
what’s honorable, and then I’ll die.
I who love him will lie down
next to him who loves me—
my criminal conduct blameless!—
for I owe more to the dead, with whom 90
I will spend a much longer time,
than I will ever owe to the living.
Go ahead, please yourself—defy
laws the gods expect us to honor.
ISMENE
I’m not insulting them! But how can I
defy the city? I don’t have the strength.
ANTIGONE
Then make that your excuse. I’ll heal
with earth the body of the brother I love.
ISMENE
I feel so sorry for you. And afraid.
ANTIGONE
Don’t waste your fear. Straighten out your own life. 100
ISMENE
At least tell nobody what you’re planning!
Say nothing about it. And neither will I.
ANTIGONE
No! Go on, tell them all!
I will hate you much more for your silence—
if you don’t shout it everywhere.
ISMENE
You’re burning to do what should stop you cold.
ANTIGONE
One thing I do know: I’ll please those who matter.
ISMENE
As if you could! You love fights you can’t win.
ANTIGONE
When my strength is exhausted, I’ll quit.
ISMENE
Hopeless passion is wrong from the start. 110
ANTIGONE
Say that again and I’ll despise you.
So will the dead—and they’ll hate you
far longer. But go! Let me and my
recklessness deal with this alone.
No matter what I suffer
I won’t die dishonored.
Exit ANTIGONE toward open country; ISMENE calls out her next lines as her sister leaves, then she enters the palace through the great central doors.
ISMENE
If you’re determined, go ahead.
And know this much: you are a fool
to attempt this, but you’re loved all
the more by the family you love. 120
Chorus of Theban ELDERS enters singing.
ELDERS
Morning sunlight, loveliest ever
to shine on seven-gated Thebes!
Day’s golden eye, risen at last
over Dirke’s glittering waters!
You stampede the Argive!
Invading in full battle gear,
his white shield flashing, he’s wrenched
by your sharp piercing bit
headlong into retreat!
This attacker who championed 130
quarrelsome Polyneikes
skimmed through our farmland—
a white-feathered Eagle
screeching, horsehair
flaring from the helmets
of well-armed troops.
He had circled our houses, threatening
all seven gates, his spearpoints
out for blood, but he was thrown back
before his jaws could swell 140
with our gore, before the Firegod’s
incendiary pine tar
engulfed the towers ringing our walls.
He cannot withstand the harsh blare
of battle that roars up
around him—as our Dragon
wrestles him down.
How Zeus hates a proud tongue!
And when this river of men
surged forward, with arrogance 150
loud as its flash of gold,
he struck—with his own lightning—
that firebrand shouting in triumph
from the battlements!
Free-falling from the mad
fury of his charge, torch
still in his hand,
he crashed to earth, the man
who’d turned on us the raving
blast of his loathsome words. 160
But threats stuck in his throat:
to each enemy soldier
Ares the brute wargod,
our surging wheelhorse,
assigned a separate doom,
shattering every attack.
Now seven captains guarding seven gates—
our captains facing theirs—
throw dow
n their arms as trophies
for Zeus—all but the doomed pair 170
born to one father, one mother,
who share even their death—
when their twin spears drive home.
Victory is now ours!
Her name is pure glory,
her joy resounds
through Thebes’ own joy—Thebes
swarming with chariots!
Let us now banish
this war from our minds 180
and visit each god’s temple,
singing all night long! May
Bakkhos, the god whose dancing
rocks Thebes, be there to lead us!
Enter KREON.
LEADER
(sotto voce to his fellow ELDERS)
Enter our new king,
Kreon, the son of Menoikeus,
who came to power
abruptly, when the gods changed our luck.
What plans does he turn over
in his mind—what will he ponder 190
with this Council of the Wise
summoned in his new role?
KREON
Men, we have just survived some rough weather.
Monstrous waves have battered our city,
but now the gods have steadied the waters.
I sent my servants to gather you here
because, of all my people, I know
your veneration for Laios’ royal
power has never wavered. When Oedipus
ruled our city, and then was struck down, you 200
stood by his sons. Now both have fallen
together, killed in one lethal exchange.
Because each struck the other’s deathblow, each
was defiled by his own brother’s blood.
As nearest kin to the men killed,
I’ve taken power and assumed the throne.
You cannot measure a man’s character,
policies, or his common sense—until
you see him at work enforcing old laws
and making new ones. To me, there’s nothing 210
worse than a man, while he’s running a city,
who fails to act on sound advice—but fears
something so much his mouth clamps shut.
Nor have I any use for a man whose friend
means more to him than his country.
Believe me, Zeus, for you miss nothing,
I’ll always speak out when I see Thebes choose
destruction rather than deliverance.
I’ll never think our country’s enemy
can be my friend. Keep this in mind: 220
our country is the ship that must keep us safe.
It’s only on board her, among the men
who sail her upright, that we make true friends.
Such are the principles I will follow
to preserve Thebes’ greatness. Akin to these
are my explicit orders concerning
Oedipus’ sons: Eteokles, who died
fighting for our city, and who excelled
in combat, will be given the rituals
and burial proper to the noble dead. 230
But his brother—I mean Polyneikes, who
returned from exile utterly determined
to burn down his own city, incinerate
the gods we worship, revel in kinsmen’s blood,
enslave everyone left alive—
as for him, it is now a crime for Thebans
to bury him or mourn him. Dogs and birds
will savage and outrage his corpse—
an ugly and a visible disgrace.
That is my thinking. And I will never 240
tolerate giving a bad man more respect
than a good one. Only those faithful to Thebes
will I honor—in this life and after death.
LEADER
That is your pleasure, Kreon: punish Thebes’
betrayers and reward her defenders.
You have all the authority you need
to discipline the living and the dead.
KREON
Are you willing to help enforce this law?
LEADER
Ask someone younger to shoulder that burden.
KREON
But I’ve already posted men at the corpse. 250
LEADER
Then what instructions do you have for me?
KREON
Don’t join the cause of those who break this law.
LEADER
Who but a fool would want to die?
KREON
Exactly. He’d be killed. But easy money
frequently kills those it deludes.
Enter GUARD. He tends to mime the actions he describes.
GUARD
I didn’t run here at such a breakneck
pace, King, that I’m winded. Pausing to think
stopped me, wheeled me around, headed me back
more than once. My mind kept yelling at me:
“Reckless fool—why go where you’ll be punished?” 260
Then: “Lazy clod! Dawdling, are you? What if
Kreon hears this news from somebody else?—
you’ll pay for it.”
I made myself dizzy,
hurrying slowly, stretching out a short road.
I finally realized I had to come.
If I’m talking annihilation here,
I’ll still say it, since I’m of the opinion
nothing but my own fate can cause me harm.
KREON
What’s making you so agitated?
GUARD
The need to explain my role in this matter. 270
I didn’t do it, I didn’t see who did.
So it wouldn’t be right to punish me.
KREON
You’re obsessed with protecting yourself.
That’s a nice fortified wall you’ve thrown up
around your news—which must be odd indeed.
GUARD
You bet. And bad news must be broken slowly.
KREON
Why not just tell it? Then you can vanish.
GUARD
But I am telling you! That corpse—someone’s
buried it and run off. They sprinkled thirsty
dust on it. Then did all the rituals. 280
KREON
What are you saying? What man would dare do this?
GUARD
I’ve no idea. No marks from a pickax,
no dirt thrown up by a shovel. The ground’s
all hard and dry, unbroken—no wheel ruts.
Whoever did this left no trace.
When the man on dawn-watch showed it to us,
we all got a nasty surprise. The dead man
had dropped out of sight. He wasn’t buried,
but dusted over, as though someone had tried
to stave off defilement. There was no sign 290
dogs or wild animals had chewed the corpse.
Then we all started yelling rough words, threats,
blaming each other, every guard ready
to throw punches—nobody to stop us.
All of us under suspicion—but none
of us convicted. We all denied it—
swearing to god we’d handle red-hot iron
or walk through fire to back up our oaths.
After interrogation got us nowhere,
one man spoke up and made us hang our heads 300
toward the ground in terror. We couldn’t do
what he said—or avoid trouble if we did.
He advised us to tell you what happened,
not try to hide it. That seemed our best move.
So we drew lots to choose the messenger.
I lost. I’m no happier to be here
than you are to see me. Don’t I know that.
Nobody loves the man who brings bad news.
LEADER
King, something has been bothering me: suppose
this busi
ness was inspired by the gods? 310
KREON
Stop! Before your words fill me with rage.
Now, besides sounding old, you sound senile.
How could anyone possibly believe
the gods protect this corpse? Did they cover
his nakedness to reward him for loyal
service—this man who came here to burn
their colonnaded temples and treasuries,
to wipe out their country and tear up its laws?
Do you think that the gods honor rebels?
They don’t. But for a good while now 320
men who despise me have been muttering
under their breaths. My edict bruised their necks.
They were rebelling against a just yoke—
unlike you good citizens who support me.
I’m sure these malcontents bribed my sentries
to do what they did.
Mankind’s most deadly
invention is money. It plunders cities,
encourages men to abandon their homes,
tempts honest people to do shameful things.
It instructs them in criminal practice, 330
drives them to act on every godless impulse.
By doing this for silver, these men have
guaranteed that, sooner or later,
they’ll pay the price.
(addressing the GUARD)
But you who worship Zeus—
since Zeus enforces his own will through mine—
be sure of this, it is my solemn oath:
if you don’t find the man who carried out
this burial and drag him before me,
a quick trip to Hades won’t be your fate.
All of you will be strung up—and you’ll hang 340
for a while, your insolence on display.
From then on, you may calculate exactly
how much profit to expect from your crimes.
More men are destroyed by ill-gotten wealth
than such “wealth” ever saved from destruction.
GUARD
May I speak further? Or shall I just leave?
KREON
Don’t you realize that your words pain me?
GUARD
Do your ears ache, or does the pain go deeper?
KREON
Why does the source of my pain interest you?
GUARD
I only sting your ears. The man 350
who did this stabs your gut.
KREON
You’ve run off at the mouth since you were born.
GUARD
Maybe so. But I had no part in this crime.
KREON
